Society

Modern British life: its people, sport, arts, faiths, customs and traditions.

Religion & patron saints

Christianity is the UK's largest faith, with 70% identifying as Christian in the 2009 Citizenship Survey
Other faiths recorded in that survey include Muslim (4%), Hindu (2%) and Sikh (1%), with Jews and Buddhists each under 0.5% and 21% reporting no religion
The Church of England (Anglican) is the established church in England; the monarch is its head and the Archbishop of Canterbury is its spiritual leader
The Church of Scotland is a Presbyterian church, governed by ministers and elders rather than by the monarch
Wales and Northern Ireland have no established church, with Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism widely practised in both
The four patron saints are St David (Wales), St Patrick (Northern Ireland), St George (England) and St Andrew (Scotland)
Patron saints' days fall on 1 March, 17 March, 23 April and 30 November respectively, but are official public holidays only in Scotland and Northern Ireland

David, Patrick, George, Andrew tick by like a calendar: March, March, April, November, Wales to Scotland.

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Football is the UK's most popular sport, and the English Premier League draws a huge international following
Cricket, rugby, golf and lawn tennis are among the sports that originated in the UK
The UK has hosted the Olympic Games three times, all in London: in 1908, 1948 and 2012
The Paralympic Games grew out of the rehabilitation work of Dr Ludwig Guttmann, who used sport to treat patients with spinal injuries
The Ashes is the historic cricket series contested between England and Australia
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world; golf's Open Championship and the horse racing events Royal Ascot and the Grand National are other major fixtures
Notable sportspeople include Sir Roger Bannister (first sub-four-minute mile, 1954), Bobby Moore (captained England to the 1966 World Cup) and Andy Murray (first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title)

Ashes, Wimbledon, Ascot: three trophies, three sports, all born in Britain.

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The Proms is a season of classical music concerts held every summer and organised by the BBC
Influential British composers include Henry Purcell, George Frederick Handel and Benjamin Britten, while The Beatles and The Rolling Stones carried British pop music worldwide
London's West End is renowned for musical theatre; the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a major annual festival for theatre and comedy
The Turner Prize, established in 1984, is a leading award for contemporary British art
Sir Christopher Wren and Sir Edwin Lutyens are celebrated British architects; Lutyens co-designed the government buildings of New Delhi
Celebrated English novelists include Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and J.K. Rowling; the Booker Prize recognises the year's best novel
Romantic poets Lord Byron, John Keats and Percy Shelley, along with William Blake and William Wordsworth, are central figures in British poetry

One prize per art form: Proms for music, Fringe for theatre, Turner for art, Booker for books.

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Christmas Day (25 December) marks the birth of Jesus Christ, followed by Boxing Day (26 December); both are public holidays
Easter recalls Jesus's death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday; Lent, the 40 days beforehand, begins on Ash Wednesday
Diwali (Hindu and Sikh) and Hanukkah (Jewish) are both festivals of light, marked with lamps or candles in autumn or winter
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan; Eid al-Adha commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son
Bonfire Night (5 November) marks Guy Fawkes's failed 1605 plot to blow up Parliament, and is marked with fireworks
Remembrance Day (11 November) honours the war dead with a two-minute silence and poppies; Hogmanay is Scotland's New Year celebration
A bank holiday is a public holiday when banks and most businesses close; the UK has several through the year, plus extra dates unique to Northern Ireland

Lights for Diwali and Hanukkah, fire for Bonfire Night, silence for Remembrance Day.

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Popular pastimes include gardening, with many people renting an allotment to grow fruit and vegetables, and visiting gardens such as Kew Gardens
The National Trust, founded in 1895, preserves historic buildings, coastline and countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the National Trust for Scotland does the same in Scotland
The UK has 15 national parks, including the Lake District, Snowdonia and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
Regional dishes include roast beef (England), Welsh cakes, haggis (Scotland) and the Ulster fry (Northern Ireland)
Pubs are central to UK social life; alcohol may only be sold to those aged 18 or over
The National Lottery and other forms of gambling also have a minimum legal age of 18
Every household watching live TV needs a TV licence, which funds the BBC; British film successes include the Harry Potter and James Bond franchises

Eighteen for a pint, eighteen for a lottery ticket, same age either way.

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The capital cities of the UK's four nations are London (England/UK), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland)
The UK's currency is the pound sterling (£), divided into 100 pence
Nearly 10% of the UK population has a foreign-born parent or grandparent, reflecting the country's ethnic and religious diversity
England accounts for about 84% of the UK's total population, by far the largest of the four nations
Minority languages include Welsh, Scottish Gaelic (Highlands and Islands) and Irish Gaelic (Northern Ireland)
UK law gives men and women equal rights at work, and in property, marriage and divorce

London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast: one capital per nation, one pound for all four.

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